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VENN
Adm. pens. at ST CATHARINE'S, July 1, 1816. S. of James, Esq., of Sunbury, Middlesex. [B. there July 31, 1794.] Previously a clerk in the Westminster Insurance Co. ' Matric. Michs. 1816; B.A. 1821; M.A. 1825. His university career was interrupted by his appointment, on the recommendation of the Royal Society, as astronomer to the Polar expedition fitted out in H.M. ships Dorothea and Trent in 1818...the results of his observations were embodied in a paper read before the Royal Society on June 8, 1820 (D.N.B.). Ord. deacon, 1821; priest, 1827. Entered the Navy as chaplain and astronomer to Parry's expedition for exploring the north-west passage, 1821-3. Parry testified to his unabated zeal and perseverance. F.R.S., 1825. C. of Stansted, Essex, 1825. C. of Ampthill, Beds., 1827. Fellow of the Astronomical Society, 1827; Member of Council, 1835-63. Chaplain to H.M. ships Spartiate and Asia in the Mediterranean, 1828-32, when he made magnetic observations which were described to the Royal Society, Jan. 24, 1833. Retired from Navy on half-pay, 1832. Communicated his theory of The Nature and Origin of the Aurora Borealis to the Royal Society, 1834, and to the British Association at Cambridge, 1845. Head Master and Chaplain of Greenwich Hospital School, 1834; Principal, 1860; retired, 1863. Author of numerous contributions to scientific journals. Died May 14, 1873, at 19, Hillmorton Road, Rugby. (Boase, I. 1053; D.N.B.; Crockford.)